Welcome to Humanity
by JukeboxHero3692
Summary: Set after 5x21 Two Minutes to Midnight. Dean/Castiel. Castiel mourns being human, Dean gives him a reason not to despair.


The crash from the porch door rang in Castiel's ears and shook the frame of the house as Dean strode angrily inside and away from Bobby. Sam shook his head, offered Castiel the other beer in his hand and muttered resignedly, "I better go see what that's about."

Castiel nodded half-heartedly and stared at the bottle a minute. He wondered if the alcohol would have a greater affect on him now that he was somewhat human. With a sigh, he brought the bottle to his lips and swigged, listening numbly to the thinly muffled sound of bitching in the other room. He finished the bottle pretty quickly and got another. When he was on about his fifth drink, he started to feel as a human would after one drink, comfortably buzzed.

_Well, at least I still have this to look forward to. _He thought bitterly.

Another two crashes disrupted his alcohol-induced introspection. Two echoes shook Bobby's house as Sam slammed the porch door again, headed for the Impala and as Dean smashed his way into the room where Castiel sat silent and brooding.

Castiel observed Dean as he paced angrily about the room. Castiel just kept quiet, sipped his beer, and waited for Dean to explain.

"I am not in the mood to fight about this, Cas," he muttered gruffly, stealing the bottle stealthily from his hands before taking a swig. "It's not going to happen."

Cas stole the bottle back, earning a look of impressed surprise from his charge. Castiel took another swig and replied, "I wasn't aware we were fighting. And what is not going to happen?"

"Nothing. I don't want to talk about it."

"All right."

Dean got up and got his own bottle and a refill for Cas. "Don't you think you want to slow down on these? I hear you're a bit more human now, so you get to learn the beauty behind the saying, 'just say no.'"

"Just give me the bottle, Dean."

But Dean, being the son of a bitch that he is, decided to play coy. In a high pitch voice, he preached, "Now you have to understand that alcohol can be harmful for you. It can impair your judgment and lead you to make bad, **bad** decisions, like unprotected sex!"

"Shut up, Dean."

"I can't Cas, now that you're human, you have to know the risks or you'll end up with 700 million different baby mommas and only a bottle of booze to blame it on."

Finally, Cas snapped. "Shut up, Dean! You have no idea, no conception of what I've lost. I was an angel of the Lord Most High. I was a major player in the story of the universe. People exalted me. I was untouchable. Now I'm only a lowly human, with barely a hope of living to tomorrow…"

"Cas, I…"

"No shut up. Even if we do somehow manage to win this, I will be utterly abandoned. My brothers and sisters, those whom I have loved and whom have loved me for centuries, will turn their backs on me in total disgust. I rebelled. And now I am powerless and so very, very alone."

The silence felt in the wake of his declaration was so tangible that it literally flooded the empty space between them. Until of course, Dean with his usual lack of tact dispelled it with the comment, "Wow, you are a little bitch, Castiel."

Castiel dropped his drink in surprise. Then slowly, a deep-seated rage, an anger he withheld only for Lucifer simmered beneath his skin. "Excuse me."

"You heard me. You. Are. A. Little. Bitch."

Within a fraction of a second, Castiel's hands went for Dean's neck, choking him within an inch of his life. Then, carelessly, he threw the insolent, insignificant hunter across the room. Castiel stood and replied calmly, "Now take it back."

Dean spat out some blood on the floor and slowly stood. "Nope, I don't think I will."

Castiel smashed an empty bottle on the side of the table before throwing it at him. It left a small pool of Dean's blood and a scar in the shape of a halo on his arm. Castiel shouted, "Why would you say this to me?!?"

"Because, look at me, look at Sam. We're _lowly humans_, we're powerless, and yet you don't see us bitching about our lot in the world."

"I have actually seen you bitch quite a lot about your role in the world!"

"Yeah well, I wish someone had been there to tell me to stop being such a bitch and suck it up. Because things are about to get a lot worse, not just for us, but for everyone."

Castiel took in his words, and sighed. The anger that had seized him vanished and with a mountain of guilt on his shoulders, he walked over and offered his hand to Dean.

"Dude, did anyone ever tell you, you have an arm?" Dean said jokingly, taking the hand and hobbling back over to the couch.

"You deserved it."

"I'm not saying I didn't, but damn. Anger management much?"

"I think I'm what you humans would call, wasted."

Dean chuckled. He paused and then turned to face him. "Now, I'm only going to say this once because I don't do chick flick moments."

Castiel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Chick flick moments?"

"Just go with it," Dean said with a hint of amusement. He sighed and said, "You're not going to be alone, Cas. If we win and the fight is over and Lucifer is back in his cage, you won't be alone. Sam and I, we'll be there for you….I'll, I'll be there for you."

Castiel smiled slightly and nodded his head. Dean watched as Cas' eyes began to brighten with the hope that had been so achingly absent the past few weeks. It made his heart feel lighter to be the cause of that.

Then Cas had to ruin the moment with, "So sharing feelings and support, that constitutes a chick flick moment?"

"Jesus, Cas, you just don't get it."

"But…"

"No we are not talking about this."

"Fine."

Dean reached for more beer and winced. He decided against the effort and laid back in the chair.

"Do you want me to heal your arm?" Cas asked softly.

Dean looked up, surprised at his tone. "Do you still have the mojo?"

"I have enough for this. Plus, we need you at the top of your game before this is over."

Dean shrugged. "All right."

Castiel reached over and took his arm. Dean shifted nervously as an unwelcome warmth burned his cheekbones. He watched Castiel's unreadable face as Cas gingerly rolled up Dean's sleeve. Castiel glanced sideways at Dean's severe expression before putting his hand lightly over the wound. Muttering a quiet Latin prayer and gripping Dean's arm more firmly, Castiel let the angel "mojo" seep into the wound.

In a flash of white light, all remnants of the fight were smoothed away. Then, Castiel, to both his and Dean's surprise, traced tenderly the place where the scar should have been. Castiel jumped up and away in shock.

Eyes wide and unsure, Castiel began to furiously clean up the mess that surrounded the two. While he swept and scrubbed, his objective was to not look at Dean, not acknowledge his presence or the strange, new feelings he inspired.

Finally, Dean wrecked his objective. He said quietly, "Cas, what was that?"

Cas gulped down enough panic to reply, "What?"

"Cas, you know what. Are…are you attracted to me?"

"No," he replied quickly, and that was true. He had felt attraction before, it made him light headed, free and happy. But with Dean, everything he felt was more intense, more personal, and it did not always make him feel happy.

"Well, then what was it?"

Castiel could not answer.

"Okay, _hypothetically_, if I was okay with what just happened, how would you…proceed?" Dean asked.

Castiel turned to face him, eyes still wide and unsure. He replied sincerely, "I would not know how to proceed."

Dean laughed and scratched the back of his neck. "No, of course you wouldn't. A gay, virgin angel, lord I have my work cut out for me."

"What do you mean?" Cas asked.

Dean smiled to himself for a moment, then looked up at Cas. Cas' muscles contracted into absolute stillness as Dean slowly moved toward him. When Dean reached him, he stroked Cas' cheek lightly and looked for a blessed moment at Castiel's lips.

Dean smiled and replied, "I mean this…"

Leaning forward, Dean captured Castiel's soft lips with his own. With more tenderness and caution than Castiel had ever seen Dean use, he pulled Castiel closer to him, incorporating his whole body into the kiss. The warmth, the affection, the beauty of that moment reminded Cas of heaven, an even greater heaven than the one he had known. One filled with kind angels and a loving father that he could always see. The beauty of it was so powerful it almost made him sad that it should belong in a world of such brokenness.

But when Dean finally released him, Castiel gave Dean the goofiest grin which made Dean literally laugh out loud. Putting his arms around Cas' waist, he planted another kiss on his cheek and whispered in his ear, "Welcome to humanity, Cas. How do you like it so far?"

Cas grinned slyly and following his newfound hormones, let his hands travel from Dean's waist to his gorgeous butt. He replied cheekily, "Well, I guess I could get used to this."

~~~~~~~~~FIN~~~~~~~~~

Hiya, author here. I've been frustrated with not being able to write any love scenes for Harry and Draco that I wrote this. Dean and Castiel are my favorite noncanon couple of Supernatural. So I hope you enjoyed it!


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